We’d like to think that Donald Trump will eventually earn our vote by committing to conservative positions and policies and campaigning as a conservative, but now that he's backing off his call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what the hell is going on” what sounded to us like sensible policy is looking like just another political con.

There’s no way around it, Donald Trump must work harder to earn the respect – and votes – of conservatives. Plus, Is the #NeverTrump crowd now saying never say never?; Trump won’t release his tax returns, Romney pounces, and, Another poll shows Clinton and Trump virtually tied.

The concern with Trump isn’t so much about his differences with the platform as it is with his inconsistencies and at times undefined positions. The presumptive Republican nominee prides himself on being “flexible,” a trait that carries appeal among many voters but that creates some anxiety among party leaders hoping to forge consensus on an overall agenda.

Of the 10 cringeworthy items Trump was compared to, a Public Policy Polling survey from May 6-9 found people only had a higher opinion of the politician when he was up against hemorrhoids and cockroaches. Respondents had more respect for used car salesmen, traffic jams, hipsters, the DMV, root canals, jury duty and Nickelback than Trump.

Do recall how he said it was really hard to get a high percent of the vote with so many opponents? Do recall he said getting just 60% of the vote in his home state of New York was only because he had two other opponents? And then realize he had ZERO opponents yesterday and still barely broke 60.

Donald Trump is all but certain to be the Republican nominee for President. However, after a series statements causing confusion about where he stands on key elements of the conservative agenda, many conservatives continue to question whether or not they can support Donald Trump for President. Where do you stand on Donald Trump as the Republican candidate for President? Are you #NeverHillary or #NeverTrump?

Trump cannot allow the establishment to claw back in the cloakrooms of Capitol Hill what he won on a political battlefield. He cannot allow a discredited establishment to dictate the issues he may run on. That would be a betrayal of the troops who brought Trump victory after victory in the primaries.

A new poll of likely voters in the important state of New Hampshire shows a pretty startling result. “Unsure” is polling ahead of both Republican “presumptive nominee” Donald Trump and the Democrat we all know will be their nominee, Secretary Hillary Clinton.

The Cruz/Rubio “unity” ticket didn’t happen in early March and both sides are blaming each other for the failure to cooperate. Plus, After Trump, the RNC likely to tweak the GOP nominating process; Now that he’s won, the media’s shifting to anti-Trump, and, Cruz will still make his presence known at the convention – over the party platform.

Trump can win by showing a consistent seriousness of purpose and demeanor, pro-growth economic policies, and a more realistic national-security strategy. He knows, as Reagan did, that success at home leads to success abroad.

According to the candidate's plan, the tax rate for the wealthiest people in the country would drop from 39.6 percent to 25 percent. But he said that would likely change. "On my plan, they're going down. But by the time it's negotiated, they'll go up," Trump said.

I think electing Donald Trump would be the second-worst thing we could do this November, better only than electing Hillary Clinton to serve as the third term for the Obama administration’s radical policies. I am not pretending that Mr. Trump has suddenly become a conservative champion or even a reliable Republican: He is completely unpredictable. The problem is that Hillary is predictably liberal.

The most important step in the campaign to govern America according to conservative principles is to turnout conservatives in Republican primaries to defeat RINOs and nominate conservatives for every office, especially Congress and state legislator. Which is why Donald Trump's remark that voters should stay home from the West Virginia Republican Primary infuriated Mountain State conservatives and proved he still has a lot to learn about leading an issues-based political party.

Many conservatives want Donald Trump to prove he’ll govern as a conservative before they’ll unquestionably support him. Plus, The Bush family’s refusal to back Trump is a win-win for both sides; Mitt Romney as the Independent White Knight? You can’t be serious, and, Sarah Palin takes her name off the table for Trump’s VP.

The Bushes have many fine qualities. Losing well, however, is not one of them. And they have to know, whether they concede it or not, that Trump’s triumph is a sweeping repudiation of Bush Republicanism by the same party that nominated them four times for the presidency.